1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to formant tracking devices, and more particularly to devices for visually displaying the formant content of spoken or sung vowel sounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The complex act of singing demands the singer to coordinate the sensations experienced within the psychological functions of respiration, phonation, resonation, and articulation to a disciplined vocal utterance that is directly related to language. Controlled by aesthetic and social mores which vary with geographic locality, the teaching of this linguistic function embodies the psychological judgment of sensation both by teacher and student, which is a highly subjective process of problem solving. Such subjectivity creates numerous systems of basic teaching which are successful within a music-social environment, but tend to be terminal because all cues for control of the vocal utterance are based upon highly personal teacher directive rather than scientific fact.
Every directive given by the teacher and every decision made by the student concerning his choice in control of his vocal utterances is determined by auditory feedback. The deaf cannot communicate in speech nor song because of this required aural awareness. There is no instrument presently available which will provide instantaneous, objective visual vertification of auditory judgment that is directly related to language.
Vowels are recognized and measured by their formants. Formants are the areas of greatest acoustic energy within the vocalized sound spectrum. They are created by cavity resonances within the phonatory tract. Classic belief holds that auditory differentiation between vowel sounds is dependent upon the frequency placement of the first two of these energy concentrations, i.e., the first two formants in the vocal spectrum. Visual verification of auditory judgment is dependent upon the location of those two points of energy plotted on a two-dimensional graph displayed visually by some means such as a cathode ray tube.
To establish objective visual verification of auditory judgment used by both the student and teacher in the act of singing or pronouncing words, an electronic instrument capable of providing visual indication of auditory differentiation would be a highly desirable advance in the art. The present invention is believed to meet those needs.